| |
 |
 |
NO. 88 AMP ENERGY / NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET
DALE EARNHARDT JR. - POST RACE RECAP
|
 |
POST-RACE RECAP / KANSAS SPEEDWAY
DATE: Sept. 28, 2008
RACE: Kansas 400
START: 11th
FINISH: 13th
POINTS POSITION: 8th
RECAPPING THE RACE:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy team finished 13th in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway after struggling with an ill-handling race car.
Earnhardt and the No. 88 team had a fast car all weekend long. The car was tight during qualifying, but Earnhardt still scored the 11th best lap of the day. When the race started, he said the car was a little loose exiting the corners. He and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. discussed changes to help the handling. They made an air pressure and a track bar adjustment during the first pit stop under green on Lap 51. Earnhardt was running in the 13th position and held his own until the next opportunity to pit occurred on Lap 75. With a wedge and air pressure adjustment, Earnhardt raced his way up to sixth but the car still was loose off the corners. The team made a smaller adjustment on the next stop and put the wedge back in on Lap 116.
The car was finally to Earnhardt's liking when the track began to change and tighten up. He raced once again back up to the sixth position, but as the race wore on, the car began to change its handling again. By Lap 191, Earnhardt was frustrated with the loose handling, and the team continued to work hard and make proper adjustments. They finished the day in 13th, but were not happy with the result. The team is now eighth in the points, 190 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for the AMP Energy 500 next weekend. The race will air on ABC at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY IMPALA SS, FINISHED 13TH:
(ON TODAY'S RACE.): "The car wasn't that good. We just made the best of it. We aren't dialing our car in. The track gets slick, we aren't working the car in to get it comfortable. That was the best I could do. We made light of it though. I told them they were lucky to have me."
(ON WHAT IT'S LIKE WORKING WITH THE CAR.): "I toned it down a lot today. I've been trying to be better on the radio and be more productive. We kind of gained on it in the center of the race, and we were kind of getting better. It just went away, it got so loose at the end, I didn't know what to tell them."
(ON GOING TO TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY.): "I think we will be fine there. I am looking forward to it. Hopefully we have a couple more in the bag that we can run good at."
*****
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com
Photos courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports
Free DHTML scripts provided by
Dynamic Drive
Thanks to Amy Walsh for the race recap.
Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports.
Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing
|
| |
|
|